Chapter 2

***

“Uncle?”

“Yes, It’s your uncle! This is your home! So you can’t go anywhere without my permission!”

Lestia blinked her eyes and looked at her uncle. Earlier, he was the one who had coldly sold her to the thugs. Now he was also the one who jumped out of the cottage and started claiming that he was her family. Lestia smiled bitterly. She knew that her uncle would have no one to sell to pay off his debts if she left.

“Family?”

Lysian, who was silently standing with his arms folded, asked a question.

“Then you must know why this girl was being beaten by gangsters in front of her house?”

“That’s……!”

The uncle, who was speechless, started rattling off excuses.

“It’s because she’s been causing trouble. Can’t adults discipline the troubled child?”

“Discipline? Is that why you left such a small, skinny girl alone with a big man?”

Lysian stepped forward, unable to hide his displeasure. It was as if he was once again on the verge of creating the flames that had set the gang ablaze.

However, Joel blocked Lysian with one hand.

“Be patient, Lysian!”

“D*mn it!”

Then, Joel stood in front of the enraged Lysian and staring at Lestia’s uncle said in a cold voice,

“Did you say you’re Lestia’s uncle?”

“Um,…yes.”

Feeling intimidated by Joel and Lysian, the uncle stuttered.

“Well, that’s strange. I did hear that my father provided you with enough child support. Why are you living in a corner of the slum?

“What? Your father?”

“There must be someone who entrusted Lestia to you ten years ago, along with child support. It was my father’s order.”

“Oh…!”

Uncle opened his eyes wide as if he remembered something.

“Child support….?”

Lestia had never heard of this. Her uncle always told her that her parents left her to him without giving a penny and that Lestia had to pay back the debt. Therefore, Lestia had to go into town every night to sell flowers to make ends meet without complaining.

“That’s…..because raising a child is expensive!”

The uncle, who hesitated for a while, shouted loudly as if he had just found an excuse.

“You know how much money I spent to raise this child! The 1,000 gold I got then is considerably insufficient for child support! Now, you’re taking the child I raised for free!”

“Uncle! What …!”

One thousand gold was enough money for an ordinary family of four to live for ten years. If he had that kind of money, they should be living in a clean and spacious house with no worries.

“You’re so loud! What kind of habit is that, interrupting when the adults are talking!”

The uncle yelled at her. Lestia freaked out. Her uncle was even more violent when she argued with him about righting his wrongs.

“Oh, I see. So you need more money.”

Joel’s eyes narrowed, and he glared at the uncle coldly, as if he was going to commit murder. The uncle, however, didn’t hide his face full of anticipation when the word money was mentioned.

“Well…yes. Raising a child is an expensive affair.”

“Then it is simple.”

Joel took out a notebook from his pocket and wrote something in it, then tossed it absentmindedly in front of the uncle.

“I’ll give you a thousand more gold.”

It was a check. The uncle took it with trembling hands, “Oh.”

“But this is not child support, it is the price for giving up parenting. Never refer to my sister as your niece again. Do not appear in front of this child.”

“Yes…yes!”

The uncle who received the money was now curious and strained his nerves at Lestia. The sight of him, completely different from the one who had been shouting with horrible vigor, seemed to make Lestia’s body relax. It was a moment that made her feel ridiculous, for she lived her whole life relying on people like this as family.

“Come on, Lestia. Let’s go home,” Joel said, smiling sweetly again.

“Well, but my…”

‘The house… the family,’ just because she was disappointed in her uncle didn’t mean she could accept the men in front of her as a family right away. She suddenly realized that these were people who would buy her for 1,000 gold when she was about to be sold for 20 silver. If they were such great men, they couldn’t be her brothers.

“We’re your real family, Lestia,” Joel said softly.

His words penetrated her heart. How nice it would be if they were really her family, she thought. She couldn’t help but doubt. It would be more miserable if it turned out that she wasn’t their sister.

What should she choose that will ease the pain and alleviate the suffering? Lestia was confused.

“Hey.”

Lysian grumbled as he approached and stood in front of Lestia. Lestia couldn’t see either Joel or her uncle in front of her. She just stared at him blankly, transfixed by the golden eyes that shone so clearly.

“You have to make a choice. Do you want to follow us or do you want to stay here? You decide who you want to have as your family.”

The tone and expression on his face were cold and indifferent.

‘Can I really go with these fearful and mysterious people?’ 

“Tell me quickly. Aren’t you cold, standing here in light clothing?”

Lysian grumbled, took off his robe, and wrapped Lestia’s body. But as if it wasn’t enough, he opened his hands and created a small flame next to her.

It was, indeed, warm. However, it was strange. Fire blooming from within his hands. Lestia thought she should be scared to see such strange things. Strangely enough, she felt warm as tears welled up in her eyes. She wondered if this was how fire moths feel like. Jumping into the burning flames knowing it was dangerous.

“I….”

Lestia finally replied in a tiny voice.

“I’ll go with you.”

It was an impulsive choice. But it didn’t matter if they were really her brothers or not. She just didn’t want to miss out on the warmth that warmed her cold body. Joel smiled as he carefully picked up Lestia in his arms and walked with her in the direction of their carriage. Lysian followed quietly behind them. Then Lestia’s uncle turned to Lysian and asked in an urgent voice.

“Oh, hey, by the way, who’s Lestia’s father? Who has so much money?”

Lysian looked back at him and answered in a cold voice.

“The Duke of Verchester.”

“Ver….Verchester? Duke Verchester?”

The uncle stuttered in surprise.

The Duke of Verchester. No matter who you were, no matter what status, there was no one on the continent who didn’t know about the family. It was a powerful family that produced wizards for generations.

“So, don’t try to do anything stupid. I can get rid of you without anyone noticing.”

After the stern warning, Lysian did not hesitate to use his magic on the cottage. The old wooden house began to burn vigorously, creating blazing flames.

“Oh my god!”

Lestia’s uncle turned white and scampered away on all fours across the snowfield. Lysian shrugged his shoulders and followed the two as they moved forward.

***

Lestia got to the carriage in Joel’s arms. She insisted that she could walk on her own, but the two men said that they couldn’t make her walk because of her injured ankle and that she couldn’t even put her feet on the floor.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. It’s only natural for a brother to escort his sister,” Joel smiled graciously.

Lestia thought that his smile was like that of an angel in a famous painting. She felt that if she ever did wrong, he would forgive her no matter what.

However, as soon as Lestia got into the carriage, she felt that she should not be allowed here. Because her old shoes and tattered clothes were defiling the luxurious carriage.

‘I thought my clothes didn’t look bad but now….’

If you’re so close to shining, you can’t hide the ugliness. Lestia realized it for the first time. She felt as if she was becoming endlessly smaller. In the end, Lestia could not even look at Joel and Lysian, who were sitting across the carriage from her, and stared only at their toes.

“Lestia, did you leave anything behind?”

Joel asked in a gentle voice.

“No, sir. I didn’t have anything, in particular, to take with me.”

Lestia shook her head. In fact, she didn’t have anything at all. She picked flowers, and the sparkling pebbles that had long ago been thrown away like garbage by her uncle, and the clothes on her were all she had.

“Don’t worry about what you left behind, we’ll buy you all new ones,” Joel said softly, gently blinking his long, pale lemon-colored eyelashes.

Once again, she was afraid of kindness. Never in her life had she received kindness without a reason. Her uncle only smiled at her kindly when she bought him alcohol. So now she needed to ask these people what their intentions were.

“Why…. Why did you come to visit me all of a sudden?”

If they were right and she was indeed their real sister, why didn’t they visit her before?

“Have you read the newspaper lately?”

Lysian, who had been looking out the window indifferently with his head resting on his cheek, handed Lestia a newspaper. She took the newspaper without a second thought.

“If you read it you will have a rough idea. The news of the death of the Duke of Verchester caused quite a stir for a while.”

It was a kind gesture on Lysian’s part. But Lestia had never learned to read.

The words crammed into the newspaper just looked like a black and white picture.

“Um, I’m sorry. I don’t know how to read….”

There was silence in the carriage. Lestia was afraid of the silence. Her uncle raised his hand at her if she didn’t know the answer to his questions. The violence would be over only if Lestia fell flat on her face and apologized.

“I’m sorry I’m stupid…”

Lestia bowed down and apologized as she always did. But after hearing Lestia’s apology, Joel and Lysian instantly hardened their faces.

***